STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The long-delayed Kroc Center in Clifton could be revived, thanks to a new push from GOP Borough President James Oddo.

But questions remain about how much the facility will cost and when construction will begin.

And if and when the facility is built, it appears it will be significantly downsized from what was originally envisioned.

Oddo said that when he took over Borough Hall in January, the dormant Kroc Center, which was supposed to have opened in 2012 on the grounds of Bayley Seton Hospital, stood out as one of the pending Staten Island projects that he wanted to see get moving again.

"That project jumped off the page," said Oddo. "It could be transformative for that area. I believe in the cause."

Oddo has met with Salvation Army representatives three times in Borough Hall this year to get the center off the ground.

"They were rather clear that they still want to see this facility built," Oddo said.

Oddo added, "I want to be helpful. Exactly how is yet to be determined. I believe in the concept, and that it's the right location."

Oddo said the Kroc Center "feeds into a lot of things we're pushing," including the borough president's campaign to encourage healthy living, as well as the blossoming North Shore renaissance.

"It's a continuation of all the positive changes that are happening along that corridor," Oddo said.

He said it was all the more important to get the facility built given the collapse of Cromwell Center.

The project was announced with much fanfare in 2006, with then-Conservative Borough President James Molinaro spearheading the effort that landed it.

The Salvation Army planned to use $70 million of a $1.8-billion bequest from Joan Kroc, the widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc, to build the center at the corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and Bay Street. It was originally budgeted at $350 million.

It was to be one of 30 centers run by the Salvation Army around the country in economically depressed areas. There are 22 other such facilities already open around the country.

The Salvation Army purchased seven acres at Bayley Seton for $7.6 million in 2009 and the center was due to open in 2012.

But by 2009, the project went into a holding pattern, in part because of the sagging U.S. economy.

"We are certainly working to get this project back off the ground for Staten Island," Major James Betts, general secretary of the Salvation Army of Greater New York, told the Advance.

He said the Salvation Army is looking at a 69,000-square-foot facility on the same plot of land at the old Bayley Seton Hospital in Clifton. That's smaller than the 120,000-square-foot facility initially envisioned.

He said the facility would include exercise equipment, basketball courts, an indoor pool, outdoor soccer field and community space.

The initial plan called for four swimming pools, a 500-seat auditorium, and a "lazy river" for tubing, and a gymnasium.

Of the downsize in the project, Betts said, "With the cost of construction in this region, it became necessary to scale things back in order to accomplish the goal with the resources that are available to us."

Betts said a Salvation Army church would also be included in the facility, and that the center would host Salvation Army educational and recreational programs aimed at teens and adults.

When asked about a price tag, Betts said, "We don't have all the numbers yet. That's still being sorted out. That will come into better clarity."

The facility will still be funded through the Kroc Foundation as well as private donations, including from the Island, Betts said.

He also said it was "tough to tell at this point" when construction could begin.

He said that senior Salvation Army officials also "have to give their blessing to the overall game plan."

"I don't want to downplay the process," Betts said, "But it's my understanding that they are committed to it."

While that plays out, Betts said the Salvation Army will continue to work with Oddo and other elected officials here.

He said that the economic downturn that hit in 2008 had delayed the center, a delay that exacerbated by Hurricane Sandy. The superstorm, Betts said, caused some Salvation Army resources to be shifted elsewhere.

"Those were the big-ticket issues that pulled us off course," Betts said.

There was another delay when it was discovered that the soil beneath the main building at Bayley Seton was contaminated by leaking underground fuel tanks.

That portion of the site was to undergo an $8-million to $15-million remediation project before it could be redeveloped into senior apartments, which were also part of the Salvation Army plan.

The area where the recreation center is to be built was not contaminated.

It is unclear if senior housing will still be part of the project.

"Everything is on the table," said Betts, "but there are so many moving parts that it's really too early to tell definitively. We are exploring the possibility, though."

Betts said that the delay may prove beneficial for the Island project in that other Kroc Centers have come online in different communities, and local organizers can learn from how they did things.

"We have an opportunity to do this right," Betts said.

He also said that the delay may prove serendipitous in that subsequent North Shore development projects have now put the Kroc Center in a new perspective.

"I think we're going to look back and realize this was divine timing," Betts said. "It's really going to work out."

Al Curtis, chairman of the board of the Staten Island Salvation Army, said that "things are turning in a very positive direction," and that "every effort is being made to ensure that the Kroc Center is built on Staten Island."

Curtis has been part of the meetings with Oddo.

"I am exceedingly more optimistic that I was a year or two ago that the Salvation Army will break ground at the old Bayley Seton Hospital in short order," he said.

But Molinaro remains wary.

"Until I see a shovel in the ground, it's not done," he said. "It's always coming, like Christmas. I'd love to see it happen. It's badly, badly needed."